Interview with Patrick Resta of Iraq Veterans
Against the War:
"Sent Into Combat Unequipped and Unprepared" by Kevin Zeese
www.dissidentvoice.org
May 5, 2005

The
voices of veterans who have served in Iraq is among the most important in
convincing the public and government officials that the war in Iraq is wrong
and the occupation must be ended. The interview below is with Patrick Resta
of Iraq Veterans against the War. Patrick, who served as a combat medic in
Iraq, is 26 years old and been married for five years. He grew up in central
New Jersey and now lives in Philadelphia. He is a full time nursing student
at the Community College of Philadelphia. His aunt and uncle were killed in
the World Trade Center on September 11th and about three weeks later he was
called to active duty as part of homeland security. He served for one year
at Ft. Jackson, SC. Then when he began to get his life back to normal and
less than one year after leaving Ft. Jackson he found out that he was being
deployed again, this time to Iraq.

Kevin Zeese: Why did you join the National Guard?

Patrick Resta: I joined the National Guard for assistance with
school. My parents made it clear that they weren't in a position to help me
with school so I began considering my options when I was about 16 years old.
In New Jersey the National Guard pays for tuition, books, and fees to any
state school. If you add on to that a few hundred dollars every month it
sounded like a good deal to a 17 year old kid.

Zeese: Were you surprised when you were sent to Iraq?

Resta: I wasn't surprised at all that I
was sent to Iraq. What did surprise me though was how my unit and myself
were sent into combat unequipped and unprepared and it didn't seem to bother
anyone. I was hearing as early as October 2001 that Iraq would be invaded no
matter what. Also interesting to me is the fact that some people have been
to Iraq two and three times, yet you still have some people that haven't
been there once.

Zeese: Where were you based in Iraq, what was your role there?

Resta: I served as a combat medic in a
tank battalion. My job varied from day to day, but basically it was doing on
of these three things: going on convoys to other camps to get supplies,
going on patrols of towns or highways, or working in our three bed ER where
we saw everything from the cold/flu to sprained ankles to gunshot wounds.

Zeese: What did you see in Iraq that convinced you that the U.S.
should leave?

Resta: Pretty much everything I saw in
Iraq convinced that US forces needed to leave. The in your face hypocrisy of
this occupation was the most disturbing thing for me. Being told I was
risking my life to help the Iraqi people and then getting over there and
being told the Pentagon had set policy so no Iraqi could be treated unless
they were about to die. The hypocrisy of the occupation was evident when I
was told we were going to help rebuild Iraq and then watched as the only
things being rebuilt were Saddam's military bases to prepare for a permanent
US military presence. Every reason this administration gave to justify our
presence in Iraq was the exact opposite of what was going on. While in the
towns I would talk to Iraqis hoping to hear something that would make the
sacrifices of my fellow soldiers worth it. What I found is that we are
neither wanted nor welcome. The Iraqi people don't trust us and they don't
want us there. Poll after poll has made that clear.

Zeese: The major argument for staying in Iraq is if the U.S. leaves
there will be greater chaos. How do you see this -- is the U.S. minimizing
the chaos in Iraq?

Resta: I always ask people to describe
the situation now. Is it not chaos? To me the definition of a civil war is
when people from a country kill other people from that country. That's what
happening now in Iraq. US troops are the problem, not the solution. We are
reliving the Vietnam War now and it's sad. We're reliving it because the
people in power didn't learn anything from that event. They were too busy
dreaming up ways to dodge the draft.

Tank battalions will never rebuild power and water purification plants no
matter how long they stay in Iraq. Halliburton and Bechtel didn't build
Iraq, so why are they rebuilding it? If you really want Iraqis to have
democracy let them run their own affairs. When you break something in a
store you don't sit there with crazy glue trying to piece it back together.
And you most certainly don't run around with a bat breaking more things.
What you do is apologize, write them a check, and get out before you do
anymore damage.

Zeese: Did you get any sense when you were in Iraq that the U.S. is
planning a long-term stay in the country or are we planning a brief stay
until things calm down in the country?

Resta: If you go back and look you can
see members of this administration talking about an invasion and long
occupation of Iraq as long as a decade ago. As I said earlier I saw plenty
of bases being built for a permanent US military presence. Things like
barracks like you would see back here in the States. While I was in Iraq the
Air Force opened up what was referred to as a "million dollar gym" at a base
outside Baghdad. I never saw the receipts, but it sounds about right to me.
Indoor and outdoor swimming pools. It was incredible to watch it happening
and then hear the spin from the American press. You can even go to
www.globalsecurity.org and find the specifics of the plan, including
what units are going to Iraq for the next few years.

Zeese: Describe the purpose of Iraq Veterans Against the War, how
many members you have, what some of your upcoming projects are.

Resta: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW,
www.ivaw.net ) has a
pretty simple platform. It's ending the occupation, making sure our
government gives the veterans of this conflict the care that they are owed,
and real aid for the people of Iraq. We have about 300 members ranging from
privates to colonels. Some are still active duty, others are current members
of the National Guard and Reserve, and some have just gotten out of the
military. Those of us that are comfortable speaking out do so often. We're
working in a lot of other areas as well, like ending stop loss, counter
recruiting, and trying to create a fair and honest conscientious objector
process within the military.